Ponzi Scheme Series: FBI Charges New Jersey Real Estate Investment Promoter Eliyahu Weinstein with Operating a Ponzi Scheme

According to the FBI complaint, Eliyahu Weinstein operated a Ponzi scheme in New Jersey beginning as early as September 2005 through an entity called Pine Projects, LLC. It appears that at least $200 million of investor capital has been lost.

Like many other Ponzi schemes, Weinstein preyed on his own kind. He is an observant jew and his victims are observant jews from New Jersey, New York, Florida and abroad. Weinstein represented that he owned or controlled certain real estate properties and that he had third party buyers or renters lined up so that the investors could turn a fast and safe profit.

Also, like many other Ponzi schemes, there were major red flags: (1) Weinstein never owned the properties he claimed to own, (2) the purported third-party buyers were co-conspirators, (3) Weinstein presented bogus checks to his prospective investors that were purportedly negotiated, but were not, and (4) Weinstein created fake leases when in reality there was no tenant at all.

These are the kind of red flags that could be uncovered by an independent, conflict-free, investment professional before an investment is made. Wittenberg Law designed the Investment Scam Prevention ProgramTM to help investors avoid exactly this type of scam. “It is human nature to trust people that look like us, talk like us and act like us. And that’s ok. But when your life savings, your future, your family’s future is involved, trust but verify. Always remove your subjective biases and implant an objective, sophisticated opinion in between you and the investment promoter. The Investment Scam Prevention Program^TM is designed to be affordable to all investors, not just the super wealthy. Now everyone has an option before going it alone,” stated Jeffrey Wittenberg, Esq., founder of Wittenberg Law.